חֵמָ֖ה אֵ֣ין לִ֑י מִֽי־יִתְּנֵ֜נִי שָׁמִ֥יר שַׁ֙יִת֙ בַּמִּלְחָמָ֔ה אֶפְשְׂעָ֥ה בָ֖הּ אֲצִיתֶ֥נָּה יָּֽחַד׃
Kemurkaan tidak ada pada-Ku. Seandainya ada yang memberi-Ku onak dan duri dalam peperangan, Aku akan melangkah menyerbunya dan membakarnya sekaligus.
Rabbeinu Bahya
A Midrashic approach(Shemot Rabbah 2): “wherever a paragraph is introduced with the word אלה, this signifies that there is no conceptual linkage to what was written now to what had preceded it immediately before. On the contrary, what follows is a contrast to what preceded it. Examples are Genesis 2,4: “these are the descendants of heaven and earth.” Up until then the Torah had described new creatures; from this point on it describes derivatives of existing creatures. It is as if G’d had said: “the former ones I did derive satisfaction from, the ones following them I did not derive satisfaction from.” “These are the descendants of Noach (Genesis 6,9).” By writing the introduction אלה, the Torah hints that the descendants of prior generations such as those of the generation of Enosh and the people who had to be killed during the deluge did not have much in common with the descendants of Noach. We find something similar in Genesis 37,2: ”these are the descendants of Yaakov.” Here too the Torah wants to draw a dividing line between the descendants of Esau and those of Yaakov.
On the other hand, wherever a paragraph commences with the word ואלה, this indicates that what follows is sort of a continuation of what had been related previously. When the Book of Exodus commences with the words ואלה שמות בני ישראל, the Torah endeavours to pick up the thread about what we had learned about Yaakov’s sons in the Book of Genesis, a story which had been interrupted by Israel’s death and burial. The Torah wishes to describe the children of Yaakov as sharing in the virtues which distinguished their illustrious father. Here too, the words ואלה המשפטים, indicate that just as the commandments engraved on the Tablets were received at Mount Sinai, what will be related from here on in was also received from G’d by Moses at Mount Sinai.
The Torah comprises laws at its beginning, in the middle, and at the end (Shemot Rabbah 30,3). In Exodus 15,25 we were told that G’d gave laws to the Jewish people at Marah; moreover in 18,2 the Torah stated that judges were to be ready to dispense justice at all times convenient to the litigants. Now, after the giving of the Ten Commandments the Torah continues to present the Jewish people with a list of laws. The words ואלה המשפטים and what follows provide the framework for the Ten Commandments which were both preceded by pieces of legislation and followed by more pieces of legislation. This is what Solomon had in mind when he wrote in Proverbs 8,20: “I walk the path of righteousness, in the path of justice.”
Another approach (Shemot Rabbah 30,9): when David said in Psalms 147,19: “He issued His words to Yaakov, His statutes and social laws to Israel,” you have to carve up this phrase as follows: the words: “He tells His words to Yaakov” refer to the Ten Commandments; the words: “His statutes and social laws to Israel,” refer to our portion here, the one which commences with the words ואלה המשפטים; the words לא עשה כן לכל גוי ומשפטים, mean that “He did not do so” (give social laws to all other nations). However, He did give to Adam, and thereby to all of mankind, six statutes. When Noach appeared, He added a seventh commandment, אבר מן החי. [seeing that after the deluge mankind had been permitted to eat meat and to kill animals in order to provide themselves with meat, this prohibition of eating flesh taken from living tissue, from a live animal had to be given at that time. Ed.] When Avraham appeared on the stage of history an eighth commandment, circumcision of the males at eight days of age, was added to the existing range of commandments. With the advent of Yaakov, and after his successful encounter with the guardian angel of Esau, a ninth commandment, that of not eating the femoral sinew was introduced. When Israel stood at Mount Sinai they were given the Ten Commandments which symbolized the remainder of the Torah. This is the meaning of the words כף אחת עשרה זהב מלאה קטרת, (Numbers 7,14). The allegorical meaning of that phrase is: “the Torah which was given to the Jewish people from the hand of G’d to the hand of Moses is אחת, “one,” consisting of עשרה, “Ten Commandments” which in effect are מלאה קטרת, “filled with incense” a word totaling 613 (when exchanging the letter ר for the letter ד when using the system of א'ת, ב''ש etc. (compare our comments on Exodus 20,16 on the section dealing with the letter קוף being a natural alternative for the letter ד) When the Israelites stood at Mount Sinai and said: “all that the Lord has said we shall do and we shall hear,” He said to them: “here the whole Torah has been given to you.” This is what David said in Psalms 147,19 that “G’d had not given all these righteous laws to any other nation.”
Rabbi Eliezer said: “when there is justice down here on earth, there is no justice in the heaven above (i.e. there is no need to apply the attribute of Justice in the celestial regions). When there is no justice on earth, then G’d has to invoke the attribute of Justice in the celestial regions” [to compensate for the absence of justice on earth. Ed.] G’d said: “if I had been required to invoke the attribute of Justice for even a single hour, the universe would not have been able to continue to exist.” This is what Isaiah had in mind when he said (Isaiah 27,4) “if I were to have to march into battle, I would have to burn all of it.“ (the vineyard which serves as Isaiah’s simile). Isaiah explains in the following verse: “But if he holds fast to My refuge, He makes Me his friend, He makes Me His friend.” The prophet means that if man, i.e. Israel, will cleave to Torah law then all will be well. This is also what the sages (Tanchuma) had in mind when they said that Israel would not have lost its independence had they not failed to observe the laws of the Torah and the maintenance of a fair judicial system. They were punished by what is described in Job 4,20 as “shattered between daybreak and evening perishing forever unnoticed.” This is what would happen if the ordinances G’d placed before the Israelites in our portion would be ignored by them.
On the other hand, wherever a paragraph commences with the word ואלה, this indicates that what follows is sort of a continuation of what had been related previously. When the Book of Exodus commences with the words ואלה שמות בני ישראל, the Torah endeavours to pick up the thread about what we had learned about Yaakov’s sons in the Book of Genesis, a story which had been interrupted by Israel’s death and burial. The Torah wishes to describe the children of Yaakov as sharing in the virtues which distinguished their illustrious father. Here too, the words ואלה המשפטים, indicate that just as the commandments engraved on the Tablets were received at Mount Sinai, what will be related from here on in was also received from G’d by Moses at Mount Sinai.
The Torah comprises laws at its beginning, in the middle, and at the end (Shemot Rabbah 30,3). In Exodus 15,25 we were told that G’d gave laws to the Jewish people at Marah; moreover in 18,2 the Torah stated that judges were to be ready to dispense justice at all times convenient to the litigants. Now, after the giving of the Ten Commandments the Torah continues to present the Jewish people with a list of laws. The words ואלה המשפטים and what follows provide the framework for the Ten Commandments which were both preceded by pieces of legislation and followed by more pieces of legislation. This is what Solomon had in mind when he wrote in Proverbs 8,20: “I walk the path of righteousness, in the path of justice.”
Another approach (Shemot Rabbah 30,9): when David said in Psalms 147,19: “He issued His words to Yaakov, His statutes and social laws to Israel,” you have to carve up this phrase as follows: the words: “He tells His words to Yaakov” refer to the Ten Commandments; the words: “His statutes and social laws to Israel,” refer to our portion here, the one which commences with the words ואלה המשפטים; the words לא עשה כן לכל גוי ומשפטים, mean that “He did not do so” (give social laws to all other nations). However, He did give to Adam, and thereby to all of mankind, six statutes. When Noach appeared, He added a seventh commandment, אבר מן החי. [seeing that after the deluge mankind had been permitted to eat meat and to kill animals in order to provide themselves with meat, this prohibition of eating flesh taken from living tissue, from a live animal had to be given at that time. Ed.] When Avraham appeared on the stage of history an eighth commandment, circumcision of the males at eight days of age, was added to the existing range of commandments. With the advent of Yaakov, and after his successful encounter with the guardian angel of Esau, a ninth commandment, that of not eating the femoral sinew was introduced. When Israel stood at Mount Sinai they were given the Ten Commandments which symbolized the remainder of the Torah. This is the meaning of the words כף אחת עשרה זהב מלאה קטרת, (Numbers 7,14). The allegorical meaning of that phrase is: “the Torah which was given to the Jewish people from the hand of G’d to the hand of Moses is אחת, “one,” consisting of עשרה, “Ten Commandments” which in effect are מלאה קטרת, “filled with incense” a word totaling 613 (when exchanging the letter ר for the letter ד when using the system of א'ת, ב''ש etc. (compare our comments on Exodus 20,16 on the section dealing with the letter קוף being a natural alternative for the letter ד) When the Israelites stood at Mount Sinai and said: “all that the Lord has said we shall do and we shall hear,” He said to them: “here the whole Torah has been given to you.” This is what David said in Psalms 147,19 that “G’d had not given all these righteous laws to any other nation.”
Rabbi Eliezer said: “when there is justice down here on earth, there is no justice in the heaven above (i.e. there is no need to apply the attribute of Justice in the celestial regions). When there is no justice on earth, then G’d has to invoke the attribute of Justice in the celestial regions” [to compensate for the absence of justice on earth. Ed.] G’d said: “if I had been required to invoke the attribute of Justice for even a single hour, the universe would not have been able to continue to exist.” This is what Isaiah had in mind when he said (Isaiah 27,4) “if I were to have to march into battle, I would have to burn all of it.“ (the vineyard which serves as Isaiah’s simile). Isaiah explains in the following verse: “But if he holds fast to My refuge, He makes Me his friend, He makes Me His friend.” The prophet means that if man, i.e. Israel, will cleave to Torah law then all will be well. This is also what the sages (Tanchuma) had in mind when they said that Israel would not have lost its independence had they not failed to observe the laws of the Torah and the maintenance of a fair judicial system. They were punished by what is described in Job 4,20 as “shattered between daybreak and evening perishing forever unnoticed.” This is what would happen if the ordinances G’d placed before the Israelites in our portion would be ignored by them.
Rabbeinu Bahya
אל תפנו אל האלילים “do not turn to the “non-deities.” The verse speaks about disembodied spirits beneath the (domain) of the ten emanations; the reason they are called אלילים is that they do possess certain god-like powers. The reason the word is repeated, i.e. אלילים instead of אלים, is to remind the reader that whatever power is displayed by these disembodied spirits is not an independent power but merely something accorded to them by the Creator. They derive their power from another source. This fact prompted the psalmist to say in Psalms 96,5 כי כל אלוהי העמים אלילים וה' שמים עשה, “all the gods of the peoples are mere idols, but the Lord made the heavens.” The psalmist means that the supremacy of Hashem is clearly evident in that He created the Heaven (the entire universe) single-handedly.
ואלהי מסכה, “and molten images, etc.” this refers to images of stars, zodiac signs, etc., which are below the level of these disembodied spirits just mentioned. These molten images are perceived as receiving their power from these stars, etc. The name אלוהי מסכה is appropriate and comparable to what the prophet Isaiah 40,19 described as הפסל נסך חרש, “the molten image is poured by the artisan.”
אני ה' אלוקיכם, “I am the Lord your G’d.” “I exercise control over all levels of phenomena.” We have a similar thought expressed more unmistakably by Solomon in Kohelet 5,7 where he wrote: “for there is One higher than the high Who watches and there are high ones above them.”
The words אל תפנו also include a concept described by David as בידך עתותי, “in Your hand are my times.” (Psalms 31,16). We read in Exodus 3,15 that G’d told Moses concerning hidden meaning in His name, זה שמי לעלם, “normally translated as: ‘this is My name forever.” The fact is that the word forever, לעולם is spelled defective in that verse, the letter ו being missing. This means that G’d has kept something concealed, hidden. Briefly, G’d’s message was that although the believers in the stars and zodiac signs attribute significance to the timing of any action in order to ensure that they will be successful, i.e. under the influence of the horoscope, Jews do not. This is what David had in mind when he spoke about his “fate” being in G’d’s hands, calling his fate עתותי, “what is meant to happen to me at any predetermined point in time.” He expresses his absolute trust in leaving such matters to G’d, not to consulting horoscopes. When G’d concludes our verse by writing אני ה', this is a reminder to the Jewish people that their fate at least is not subject to אלילים, and it would be not only wrong but foolhardy of them to turn to cheap imitations of the real Power in this world.
ואלהי מסכה, “and molten images, etc.” this refers to images of stars, zodiac signs, etc., which are below the level of these disembodied spirits just mentioned. These molten images are perceived as receiving their power from these stars, etc. The name אלוהי מסכה is appropriate and comparable to what the prophet Isaiah 40,19 described as הפסל נסך חרש, “the molten image is poured by the artisan.”
אני ה' אלוקיכם, “I am the Lord your G’d.” “I exercise control over all levels of phenomena.” We have a similar thought expressed more unmistakably by Solomon in Kohelet 5,7 where he wrote: “for there is One higher than the high Who watches and there are high ones above them.”
The words אל תפנו also include a concept described by David as בידך עתותי, “in Your hand are my times.” (Psalms 31,16). We read in Exodus 3,15 that G’d told Moses concerning hidden meaning in His name, זה שמי לעלם, “normally translated as: ‘this is My name forever.” The fact is that the word forever, לעולם is spelled defective in that verse, the letter ו being missing. This means that G’d has kept something concealed, hidden. Briefly, G’d’s message was that although the believers in the stars and zodiac signs attribute significance to the timing of any action in order to ensure that they will be successful, i.e. under the influence of the horoscope, Jews do not. This is what David had in mind when he spoke about his “fate” being in G’d’s hands, calling his fate עתותי, “what is meant to happen to me at any predetermined point in time.” He expresses his absolute trust in leaving such matters to G’d, not to consulting horoscopes. When G’d concludes our verse by writing אני ה', this is a reminder to the Jewish people that their fate at least is not subject to אלילים, and it would be not only wrong but foolhardy of them to turn to cheap imitations of the real Power in this world.
Ibn Ezra
I think that God is not represented as speaking in these two verses, as is the case in many passages of this book—we need only refer to the preceding chapter, verses 18 and 1915The peculiarity hinted at in this remark seems to consist in the introduction of the dialogue form; ver. 3 is assigned to God, ver. 4 and 5 to Israel, ver. 6 again to God; similarly 26:18—19 is assigned to the people, ver. 20 again to the Lord.—but the men of Judah,16The expression איש יהודה the men of Judah, is perhaps used by I. E. instead of Israel, because the second part of this chapter (comp. ver. 7), refers, according to his interpretation, to the kingdom of Israel. after having heard God’s promise, I the Lord will keep it, lest he visit it, are introduced, saying, We do not declare with fury, that if the enemy should come to turn the vineyard into a place of briers and thorns, we should kill ourselves. Comp.17The passages which follow are instances of the use of the third person instead of the first, as is the case here; through it ═ through myself. And Ezekiel shall be, instead of And I shall be (Ez. 25:24), And Samuel, instead of And myself (1 Sam. 12:11); As he hath done, instead of As I have done (Lev. 8:34); במלחמה in war, is to be joined with מי יתנני who would turn me in this way: If one should come to turn me by war into a place of briers and thorns, etc. או יחזק Or if He would strengthen my stronghold, etc., to give me the strengthening promise that He will be in peace with me, and so should the enemy be, then Jacob would take root, etc. I am compelled to explain in this way by the phrase, He will make peace unto me, because it is God alone that maketh peace.18I. E. is not the author of the first opinion, which attributes to God the words, He will make peace unto me, since, as he says, he is compelled to assume, that they are to be assigned to the men of Judah. It is often the case in the commentaries of I. E., that an anonymous opinion, which is supposed to be generally adopted, is followed by the commentator’s own explanation, introduced by a phrase like ואני אומר ,ולפי דעתי but I think, but I say. In this verse the first explanation is perhaps to be assigned to those whose opinion is introduced at the beginning of verse 4, with the words, some say.
Rav Hirsch
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ויבאו מרתה AND THEY CAME TO MARAH — The word מרתה is the same as למרה: a ה at the end of a word (as a suffix) replaces a ל at its beginning (as a prefix). The ת takes the place of the ה which is rooted in (an integral part of) the word מרה; when it is joined with another letter, viz., when it is attached to the ה which is added to the word in place of the ל, the ה of the primary form (the ordinary form of the noun from which longer forms are made by the addition of suffixes) is changed into a ת. Thus, also, every ה which is a root-letter (a letter in the primary form of the noun) is changed into a ת when it is joined to another letter. E. g., we have (Isaiah 27:4) “Fury (חמה) is not in Me”, but (Esther 1:12) “And his fury (חמתו) burned within him”; you see that the ה of the ground-form is changed into a ת because it is to be joined to the ו which has been added. Similar are: (Leviticus 25:44) “Manservant and handmaid (אמה)”, but (Genesis 30:3) “Behold, my handmaid (אמתי) Bilhah”; (Genesis 2:7) “a creature of life (חיה)”, but (Job 33:20) “His life (חיתו) maketh him to abhor bread”; (Judges 4:5) “Between Ramah (רמה) [and Beth-el]”, but (I Samuel 7:17) “And his return was to Ramah (הרמתה)” the latter example being exactly parallel to that in this verse (מרתה - מרה).